How to Live by Faith Everyday

Living by faith is not as boring as many people may think. To say the least, it’s a very exciting lifestyle.

Do you like winning? I know I do.

For many years I’ve tried to accomplish things in my own strength without even realizing it. It was stressful and demanding to say the least.

I must admit that in the process I’ve also allowed people to speak negatively into my life. They would tell me to be realistic and face the realities around me.

They said that I cannot always expect God to answer my prayers….maybe He is trying to teach me something. “Maybe it’s not His will to heal you right now…..” or “maybe they stole your car because God is trying to teach you something…..” they would say.

God is Not a Bully. He Won’t Harm You to Teach You Something

Those remarks didn’t make sense to me because I knew what God’s Word said. God doesn’t need someone to bring harm to me and my family to teach me something. For me to be taught something, I need to learn what God says in His Word.

How can anybody say “God doesn’t want to heal you” when Proverbs 4:20-22 (NIV) says “20 My son, pay attention to what I say; turn your ear to my words. 21 Do not let them out of your sight, keep them within your heart; 22 for they are life to those who find them and health to one’s whole body.”

That doesn’t mean God will say ‘yes’ to every prayer. God knows what’s best for us. That is why we need to pray according to His will, and His will is “health to one’s whole body”. God won’t bring harm to us.

When Bad Things Happen, You Don’t Have to Blindly Accept It

I also knew that Romans 8:27-28 (NIV) says “And he who searches our hearts knows the mind of the Spirit, because the Spirit intercedes for God’s people in accordance with the will of God. And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who[i] have been called according to his purpose.”

The Spirit intercedes for God’s people in accordance with the will of God. There is not one place in the Bible that I know of where God says it is His will for me to be sick, or for any harm to come to me or my family. I do see promises of protection, health, wellness and everything that is good.

The enemy will try to bring harm to me, but looking at these scriptures, I know that whatever the enemy tries to bring against me, God is able to turn it around and ‘in all things work for the good of those who love Him’.

Good News: We Can Live Life to the Full

In John 10:10 (NIV) Jesus says “The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy”, but in the same verse He continues to say “I have come that they may have life, and have it to the full.”

So, who is stealing, killing and destroying? It is not God. Jesus came that we can have life to the full.

It is also not God who allows the thief (the devil) to steal kill and destroy. It is us.

We should be standing in faith. But Hosea 4:5-7 says “5 You stumble day and night, and the prophets stumble with you. So I will destroy your mother— 6 my people are destroyed from lack of knowledge. “Because you have rejected knowledge, I also reject you as my priests; because you have ignored the law of your God, I also will ignore your children. 7 The more priests there were, the more they sinned against me; they exchanged their glorious God[a] for something disgraceful.”

People are suffering due to a lack of knowledge. You cannot have faith in someone you know nothing about.

The Word of God is available to each and every one of us. We should take responsibility and learn about God’s Kingdom, about the way He wants us to live and about His purpose for us.

We Have Divine Protection

We need to learn about the armor of God and how to wear it (Ephesians 6:10-18). We need to learn that “….our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms” (Ephesians 6:12 NIV).

Once we gain knowledge of these things we should ask God for wisdom (James 1:5), to help us understand these things and how to apply it in our practical day-to-day living. Ask for wisdom to live under the protection of God and to live by faith.

In 2016, I wrote a guest post at Empowerment Moments Blog, where I ask the question “Do You Want to Live by Faith?” If that’s you, head over there and read more about what it takes to live by faith.

To Live By Faith, You Need To Be In Close Relationship With God.

To live by faith, you need to be in a personal relationship with God. When you get close to God, it becomes easier to make His Word the final authority in your life.

But it is not going to happen by itself. Romans 12:2 (NIV) says “Do not conform to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God’s will is—his good, pleasing and perfect will.”

It is a daily process, but you will never regret it. It starts with prayer.

Prayer is Like Having a Conversation with God

Prayer is nothing else than having a dialogue with God. Sure, it is a good thing – and highly recommended – to have some quiet time somewhere during the day. Use this time to do some Bible study and spend some time in prayer.

But prayer doesn’t have to be limited to some specific time of day and if you miss it you’re in trouble.

Do you communicate with people and have conversations with them during the course of the day? Sure you do. Well, in the same way, you can have conversations with God. Often you are talking to yourself for crying out loud…lol. Why can’t you speak to God?

Prayer doesn’t have to be some formal kind of ritual which needs to follow a certain procedure every time.

Read the Bible and highlight (or write down) scriptures which are applicable to what you are dealing with. Meditate on these scriptures and quote them to yourself during the day so that you can hear it.

When you think about something or need to make a decision about something, talk to God (pray) and ask what He thinks about it. As you make this a habit and study His Word, you’ll start thinking about solutions or scripture will pop into your head.

Wow, that’s the start of two-way communication.

Pray, Plan and Then Have Faith

Something I am working on right now is to get out of the way. Some time ago, I had the habit of pushing as hard as I could on whatever I’m working on. After planning my work, I would do everything I could as planned.

Yet, when I’m done, I would keep looking for something I could do to speed things up to the point where I can see results.

Believe me, it doesn’t work. It only takes you to the point where it feels as if you are never done with anything.

Now, I do what I can do and then I leave it. I let it go and I don’t worry about it. If something pops into my mind and it’s something practical that I can and should do, then I obviously do it. Or when the time comes to take the next action step as planned, I’ll do it. But when it’s done, it’s done.

Of course, you have to manage it. Nobody is going to plant a seed and not water it. But stop fiddling with it and let it grow.

It all comes back to proper planning. Then have faith in your plan and obviously, the fact that God is in control and He will never forsake you.